History Marquisate of the Valley of Oaxaca

1 history

1.1 background , bestowal
1.2 territories , administration
1.3 cortés pignatellis

history
background , bestowal

after fall of tenochtitlan, capture of last aztec tlatoani, cuauhtémoc, on 13 august 1521, aztec empire disappeared, becoming part of spanish empire. success brought legal status cortés, position had been contested during conquest. on 15 october 1522, royal cedula issued, appointing him governor , captain general of new spain. cortés governed newly conquered territories until 1524, when left honduras, heading expedition against rebel cristóbal de olid, had declared independence spain , claimed honduras own.

hernán cortés, conquistador of new spain, 1st marquis of valley of oaxaca

at arrival @ mexico city in 1526, after having defeated olid, cortés found enemies bishop fonseca, president of council of indies, , diego velázquez de cuéllar, governor of cuba, had persuaded king initiate juicio de residencia (judgement of residence) against him. chosen licentiate luis ponce de león, suspended cortés office of governor on 16 july 1526, , took on government himself. ponce de león died shortly after arrival, , replaced marcos de aguilar, died shortly after taking office. cortés, accused opponents of having poisoned both of them, decided return spain appeal justice of king.

in 1528, cortés attained castile, presented himself great splendor before charles v s court, responding forthrightly accusations of enemies. cortés gained royal favor, , created marquis of valley of oaxaca, being formally confirmed in land holdings , vassals. title bestowed upon him royal cédula issued on 6 july 1529. honored knighthood of order of santiago , honorary charge of captain general of new spain , of coast of southern sea, , noble title don, not reinstated governorship of new spain desired , never held office political power again. in 1529 married spanish noblewoman doña juana de zúñiga had 4 legitimate children, including legitimate son, don martín, succeeded title on father s death in 1547.

on 27 july 1529, new royal cédula issued, permitting cortés establish mayorazgo (entailed estate) or majorat annexed title. institution of majorat, took place on 9 january 1535, ensured permanence of marquisate, entailed of cortés estates, urban properties , vassals, rendering them inheritable along marquisal dignity in family. mayorazgo laid down succession title, male-preference primogeniture, i.e. female allowed succeed if has no living brothers , no deceased brothers left surviving legitimate descendants. specified marquis or marquise had roman catholic, loyal king, , bear name , arms of cortés.

territories , administration

cortés estate 1 of few seignorial hereditary domains created in indies, along short-living dukedom of veragua , marquisate of jamaica; dukedom of atrisco, marquisate of santiago de oropesa , lordship of maní. spanish crown preferred reward conquistadors via encomienda system, granting tribute , labor specific indigenous settlements holder of encomienda. encomiendas inherited 2 generations, , encomenderos had no political or judiciary power in lands, depending on pertinent royal audience , captaincy general or intendance. far it, marquis of valley of oaxaca had full civil , criminal jurisdiction on 23.000 vassals, , name justice , administrative officials. although crown had granted title , privileges, royal authorities made continual efforts prevent marquesado acquiring political , juridical power required in classic feudal model. .

the marquisate granted cortés not geographically unified estate, consisted of separate, fertile, populous, , strategic areas in different parts of mexico economic potential. holdings covered total extension of on 11.500 square kilometres. cortés built palace in cuernavaca, (now capital of state of morelos), relatively close mexico city, had substantial holdings. house house censuses ca. 1535 in nahuatl language extant cuernavaca region, give important information social , economic structure of indigenous communities held cortés. censuses carried out part of dispute between cortés , spanish crown number of tribute payers cortés held. in censuses cortés referred directly title of marqués. censuses give important information extent christian evangelization effective @ local level, since each member of household identified baptized or unbaptized. type of local-level documentation in indigenous languages used in mesoamerican ethnohistory (also termed new philology) write history indigenous viewpoints. cuernavaca censuses demonstrate although cortés recipient of tributes , acknowledged indian communities overlord, these communities continued function little change fifteen years after conquest of mexico.

the marquisate composed of 7 jurisdictions: 4 corregimientos , 3 alcaldías mayores. corregimiento of coyoacán, of 550 km, included main town, 34 villages (among others mixcoac, san agustín de las cuevas, san Ángel, churubusco , tacubaya) , 5 haciendas. depending of corregimiento of toluca 12 villages , hacienda of 450 km, , of corregimiento of charo matlazinco, of 100 km, san miguel charo, 2 villages , hacienda. corregimiento of jalapa de tehuantepec, headed santa maría jalapa del marqués, 7 haciendas summed 550 km. holdings bring enormous income marquisate when managed large profit-making, economic enterprise centralized administration.

palace of cortés, cuernavaca. main seat of government of marquisate of valley of oaxaca, , residence of 1st, 2nd , 4th marquises.

this last corregimiento included until 1560 port of tehuantepec, when king philip ii issued royal cédula, dated 16 december, removed tehuantepec marquisal estate, specified marquis should receive in exchange equivalence of tributes in gold town produced royal treasury. royal audience of mexico, on 23 november 1563, fixed perpetual annual reward of 1,527 pesos of gold , 3,442 fanegas of maize paid villages of tenango del valle , chimalhuacán.

the alcaldía mayor of 4 towns of marquisate (santa maría de oaxaca, cuilapan, etla , santa ana tlapacoyan), of 1,500 km, included 34 villages, 2 haciendas , sugar ingenio. notwithstanding being surrounded lands of alcaldía, city of antequera (today oaxaca de juárez) patrimony of crown. alcaldía mayor of cuernavaca spanned former corregimientos of acapixtla , oaxtepec, covering area of 4,100 km. included city of cuernavaca, head of marquisate; 80 villages, 8 haciendas , 3 sugar ingenios, situated in tlaltenango (the first 1 in new spain), amatitlán , atlacomulco. alcaldía mayor of tuxtla , cotaxtla, headed town of santiago tuxtla, composed of 51 villages.

up 1567, marquis assigned general supervision of estate affairs high steward (mayordomo mayor), official directly below him work consisted of routine collection , disbursement of funds , materials, conduct of lawsuits. in year, viceregal authorities discovered conspiracy led don martín cortés, 2nd marquis , brother martín cortés mestizo, planning proclaim former king of new spain, supported conquistadors, unhappy new laws restricted inheritance of encomiendas. king ordered sequestration of marquisate, meant crown seized control of estate , withdrew incomes; leaders being expelled new spain , forbidden return.

although sequestration lifted in 1593, marquises lost direct control of administration of estate, had retain structure through crown had worked, relinquished governing autonomy used exercise. then, marquisate had fixed bureaucracy: governor , privative judge of estate (gobernador y juez privativo), estate controller (contador), estate lawyer (abogado de cámara), estate solicitor (procurador), estate bailiff (agente solicitador), estate executioner (ministro ejecutor), administrator of houses , ground rents , interpreter of náhuatl. these major officials met group, called junta, discuss estate affairs. also, there office in madrid, general direction, decisions taken jointly agents of marquis.

the marquesado del valle codex, written in second half of 16th century, includes 28 petitions filed local landowners in nahuatl language requesting return of seized lands.

from cortés pignatellis

don martín, 2nd marquis, obtained royal pardon in 1574, returning exile in oran , recovering part of sequestered lands in mexico. however, not go new spain , still had pay fine of 50,000 ducats , lend 100,000 more crown. died in madrid in 1589 , succeeded in title eldest son, don hernando cortés, 3rd marquis of valley of oaxaca, reinstated rest of estate in 1593, of brother-in-law, diego fernández de cabrera, 3rd count of chinchón, close adviser king. 3rd marquis left no legitimate children, title passed on death brother, don pedro cortés, 4th marquis of valley of oaxaca. marquis allowed settle in mexico, took running of estate, had been controlled administrators since 1567.

the 4th marquis died without surviving descendants, marquisate inherited niece, doña estafanía carrillo de mendoza y cortés, married sicilian duke of terranova. doña estefanía eldest daughter of doña juana cortés, sister of 3rd , 4th marquises, , husband don count of priego. upon inheritance of title, in compliance mayorazgo or entailment, family adopted name aragona tagliavia cortés, although commonly referred tagliavia d aragona. marriage produced single child, giovanna, 1 of richest heiresses of time, married ettore pignatelli, 5th duke of monteleone, giving birth dynasty assembled immense wealth of aragonas, tagliavias, pignatellis , cortés, titles , fiefs, among mexican marquisate crown jewel. upon marriage, groom assumed name aragona pignatelli cortés him , descendants, known pignatelli d aragona.